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Project

Overview

Project Overview

Over the past 80 years, a variety of subsidized employment strategies have been used for two main purposes: (1) to provide work-based income support for people who are not able to find regular, unsubsidized jobs; and (2) to improve the employability of disadvantaged groups. Programs with the first goal have typically emerged during periods of sustained high unemployment. Those with the second goal, including transitional jobs programs, may be relevant throughout the business cycle, since some groups have difficulty finding and holding jobs even when the labor market is healthy.

Since the 1970s, a few of the subsidized employment models have been rigorously evaluated, with mixed results. The Subsidized and Transitional Employment Demonstration (STED) will build on these earlier studies to test new, innovative, subsidized employment models. The project is sponsored by the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. In 2010, ACF selected MDRC and its partners, Decision Information Resources (DIR), Branch Associates, and MEF Associates, to lead the project. MDRC is also conducting the Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration (ETJD), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, focusing on programs targeting disadvantaged noncustodial parents and/or former prisoners.

This report presents implementation and interim impact findings from a random assignment evaluation of STEP Forward, a subsidized employment program in San Francisco serving a diverse group of low-income job seekers. In the first year, STEP Forward boosted employment and earnings, which suggests that participants obtained better jobs.

Subsidized jobs programs seek to increase employment and earnings among individuals who have not been able to find jobs on their own. This report presents the perspectives of participants of 11 such programs. Although there were successes, the majority could not translate their experiences into unsubsidized work.

Final Impacts and Costs of New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program

This report presents 30-month impacts from a random assignment evaluation of a program that subsidized employers to offer temporary paid jobs to young people who were disconnected from school and work in New York City. After 30 months, program enrollees and nonenrollees fared similarly, with the former slightly more likely to report employment.

The STED project will include random assignment evaluations of up to seven subsidized employment programs targeting groups such as current, former, or potential Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, low-income noncustodial parents, and others. The evaluation will use a random assignment evaluation design to assess whether the programs improve participants’ short- and long-term employment and earnings and affect other key outcomes. The MDRC team will also provide programmatic technical assistance and funding to the participating programs to defray the costs of being in the study.

This report presents implementation and interim impact findings from a random assignment evaluation of STEP Forward, a subsidized employment program in San Francisco serving a diverse group of low-income job seekers. In the first year, STEP Forward boosted employment and earnings, which suggests that participants obtained better jobs.

Subsidized jobs programs seek to increase employment and earnings among individuals who have not been able to find jobs on their own. This report presents the perspectives of participants of 11 such programs. Although there were successes, the majority could not translate their experiences into unsubsidized work.

Final Impacts and Costs of New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program

This report presents 30-month impacts from a random assignment evaluation of a program that subsidized employers to offer temporary paid jobs to young people who were disconnected from school and work in New York City. After 30 months, program enrollees and nonenrollees fared similarly, with the former slightly more likely to report employment.

Individuals who are eligible for the programs will be assigned, at random, to a program group that is offered services from the subsidized employment program or a control group that is not served in the program but may seek out other services in the community. In some cases, study participants may be randomly assigned to one of two different versions of a subsidized employment model to assess which works best.

The evaluation will use a combination of surveys and administrative records to track the study groups for several years. It will also study the operation of the programs and assess their costs.

This report presents implementation and interim impact findings from a random assignment evaluation of STEP Forward, a subsidized employment program in San Francisco serving a diverse group of low-income job seekers. In the first year, STEP Forward boosted employment and earnings, which suggests that participants obtained better jobs.

Subsidized jobs programs seek to increase employment and earnings among individuals who have not been able to find jobs on their own. This report presents the perspectives of participants of 11 such programs. Although there were successes, the majority could not translate their experiences into unsubsidized work.

Final Impacts and Costs of New York City’s Young Adult Internship Program

This report presents 30-month impacts from a random assignment evaluation of a program that subsidized employers to offer temporary paid jobs to young people who were disconnected from school and work in New York City. After 30 months, program enrollees and nonenrollees fared similarly, with the former slightly more likely to report employment.

Bloom directs MDRC’s work on groups seeking to gain a foothold in the labor market, including former prisoners, disconnected young adults, low-income noncustodial parents (usually fathers), welfare recipients, individuals with disabilities, and others.

Redcross is Deputy Director of MDRC’s Health and Barriers to Employment policy area. Her expertise is in random assignment evaluations of programs that serve individuals involved in the criminal justice system.

Navarro, a research associate in MDRC’s California office, has over 31 years of experience as an information services and operations liaison for over 60 sites, covering 21 evaluations and demonstrations of innovative programs to help low-income people become self-suffici

COMPLETELISTOFPUBLICATIONS

Subsidized jobs programs seek to increase employment and earnings among individuals who have not been able to find jobs on their own. This report presents the perspectives of participants of 11 such programs. Although there were successes, the majority could not translate their experiences into unsubsidized work.

This report describes the ways in which eight TANF programs primarily serving American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) families use subsidized employment. It found that their use of subsidized employment has the potential to provide work opportunities for AIAN individuals with limited work experience and barriers to employment.

This report presents 30-month impacts from a random assignment evaluation of a program that subsidized employers to offer temporary paid jobs to young people who were disconnected from school and work in New York City. After 30 months, program enrollees and nonenrollees fared similarly, with the former slightly more likely to report employment.

“Transitional jobs” are temporary, subsidized jobs meant to teach participants basic work skills or help them get started with an employer. The Enhanced Transitional Jobs Demonstration tested seven such programs for people recently released from prison or low-income parents behind on child support. This report presents the final impact results.

This report presents findings from an analysis of the effects of subsidized/transitional programs on subjective well-being, or how participants feel about their current life situations. The analysis found that the programs had positive effects on both employment and well-being while the programs operated, but these effects dissipated after the programs ended.